50 pages 1 hour read

Unmasked: My Life Solving America's Cold Cases

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2022

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Index of Terms

CODIS

CODIS is the acronym for Combined DNA Index System. It is a database developed by the FBI in 1998 containing the DNA profiles collected from criminal offenders. When a crime is committed, an investigator can submit the DNA profile obtained from evidence into the database to search for the individual who is likely to have committed the crime. DNA evidence did not become useful in criminal investigation until the early 1990s, and with the invention of the database, law enforcement agencies were able to broaden the pool of potential suspects. However, because Joseph DeAngelo’s DNA was not on file in CODIS, it was not useful in solving the Golden State Killer case.

Cold Case

A cold case is a crime that remains unsolved and is not actively being investigated by law enforcement. Several factors can cause a case to go cold, such as lack of evidence, lack of leads, lack of resources, or more pressing cases that must take precedence. Holes becomes driven to solve the East Area Rapist (EAR) cold case when he stumbles on it in 1994, and through EAR, he discovers his passion for examining cold cases in general. Overall, Unmasked suggests that as The Human Impact of Crime is not time-limited, neither should the investigation of these cases be.

Crime Scene Investigation (CSI)

Crime scene investigation is the task of assessing and documenting the scene of a crime. This involves photographing the scene and its victims as well as collecting evidence. Holes argues that the scene of the crime can tell a narrative about how the crime took place; studying it thus provides important guidance for investigators in discerning the crime’s perpetrator.

Criminalist

Holes first becomes interested in detective work when he learns about the job of a criminalist. A criminalist has a deep knowledge of the hard sciences, including chemistry and biology, and generally works in a lab to assess evidence or other materials collected from a crime scene; at other times, the criminalist may themselves do the collecting. Holes’s work collecting and assessing physical evidence from crime scenes sparks his interest in investigative work more broadly.

DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a molecule that contains the genetic code of every individual. Since each person’s DNA is unique, assessing DNA gathered from material left at crime scenes is an integral part of solving violent crimes. Human tissue and fluids contain DNA, which can be obtained from hair, blood, semen, fingernails, skin, and saliva. It was not until the late 1980s and early 1990s that such testing became available, but as the technology became more sophisticated, DNA evidence from cold cases closed investigations into crimes such as those of the Golden State Killer. DNA is thus central to the work’s discussion of The Importance of Science in Crime Solving.

Psychopath

Psychopathy is not a psychiatric diagnosis, although it is sometimes treated as synonymous with antisocial personality disorder, in which a person is unable to form emotional attachments to other people or to empathize with their pain or suffering. In the context of criminal justice, “psychopath” is often used to describe someone who does not experience guilt when they commit a crime and appears to lack a conscience or moral code, though they may be able to mimic social conventions and blend into society with ease.

Sociopath

Like psychopathy, sociopathy is not a formal diagnosis but overlaps somewhat with antisocial personality disorder. In the context of criminal justice, sociopathy is sometimes considered less severe than psychopathy; a “sociopath,” for example, may have a slight ability to empathize with the pain of others and to form and maintain relationships with other people. Holes decides that the EARONS perpetrator is more likely a sociopath than a psychopath because he does seem affected by the appeals of his victims.

Victimology

Victimology is a subfield of criminology that studies the relationship between victim and perpetrator. Holes refers to this field when he is searching for potential suspects who may have committed a crime. Examining the people in the victim’s orbit—whether personal, professional, or otherwise—is important in identifying potential suspects, and investigations in which the victim and perpetrator are likely strangers are approached differently.

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